Our Thing
by kaykaycookie8D
Summary: "I was thinking, maybe it could be our thing," the spiky blonde said, a light blush dusting his sun-kissed cheeks. Sakura again stared down at Naruto's mismatched converse, the left shoe bright red, and the right shoe obnoxiously orange. Sakura felt her cheeks redden and sighed. Great. Now they had a thing. SakuXNaru Story better than summary I promise! M for lemon in later chapter
1. The Frist Day

_**The First Day**_

Sakura walked into school, her pink head bent low as she tried to avoid people's gazes. The green-eyed freshmen quickly texted her best friend, asking where the_ hell _she was.

It was the first day of the second semester of the new year and Sakura had already ruined her expectation on how the rest of the school year was going to go. Rushed out the door by her father, Sakura had picked out her red converse to wear today. Or at least she had _thought _they were _red._

As Sakura made her way to where her best friend was waiting, she glared down at her two feet, her left foot wearing a snugly fit bright red converse. Though they matched in brand, her right foot was anything _but _the color red.

Sakura narrowed her viridian orbs at the obnoxious _orange_ foot wear.

The pinkette silently cursed her luck and her father, for not grabbing an extra pair of shoes, and for her dad, for not taking her back home so she could grab her matching red shoe. '_It so does _not _look fashionable,' _Sakura thought bitterly, using her father's earlier words against him.

"Hey ForeHead! Where have yo- _Oh my God, what are you_ wearing?!" Her loud pale-blonde friend yelled throughout the foyer.

Sakura speed walked to her friend, slapping her hard on the arm. "Did you _really _have to announce what I'm wearing to the _entire freaking student body_?" Sakura whispered harshly, fixing Ino with a scowl while the blonde rubbed her arm.

"Sakura, you must be sick, _delirious _with a fever, because _no one _in their right _mind _would ever wear _that_," Ino said, staring at her feet in disgust.

Sakura merely rolled her eyes while their shy indigo-haired friend approached them. "Hey Hinata," Sakura called casually.

"H-Hey Sakura," Hinata said, a small smile etched into her pale features. Her smile quickly turned into a frown when she saw Sakura's mismatched foot wear. "W-Why are you w-wearing two different colored shoes?" Hinata asked tentatively.

"Because I'm blind and my stupid dad wouldn't take pity on me," Sakura muttered, turning her heated gaze down at her feet. She was seriously considering going bare foot.

"Well, I'd give you some extra shoes if I had some," Ino said smiling at her friend while giving her a pat on the arm. "But I don't, so your _screwed, _Forehead."

Hinata giggled while the bell rang, signalling that class was starting.

"God, _please_ let today go by fast," Sakura said, her friends laughing at her distress as they made their way to class.

* * *

By fourth period, Sakura was fuming.

Everyone she had passed tried to cover up their laugh with a snort. Or they just stared at her in confusion and whispered to their friends about the weird pink-haired girl with the mismatched feet. They were probably wondering if she was _special._

Sakura had mostly slept through out first period, her world geography teacher droning _on _about river valley civilizations. Second period was bearable because she had Ino in math, so at least she didn't have to suffer alone, but the blue-eyed girl would not lower her voice so of course it brought attention to the pair, attention Sakura did _not _want. Sakura finally had to punch the girl on the arm and tell her to be quiet as the teacher stared at the pair, waiting for them to hush before continuing on with the lesson. Sakura had barely gotten by in Spanish, where her teacher asked her in front of the whole class, "?Por que llevas dos zapatos de diferentes colores?" It took Sakura a minute before she realized he had asked her why she was wearing two different colored shoes. Sakura had blushed, replying, "Pensé que eran del mismo color antes de que yo salí de mi casa," that she had thought her shoes were the same color before she had left her house.

Sakura had barely made it to fourth period on time, her biology teacher giving her a look as she continued giving out instructions and that the class would be getting new lab partners today. Sakura stood at the back of the class, waiting for her teacher to call out her name and wondering where she would be sitting for the rest of the year. She hoped it was in the-

"Haruno Sakura, left back table," her teacher called. Sakura smiled, thanking God for _at least_ giving her this privilege today. As Sakura made her way to her new seat, she just hoped that her partner wouldn't be some lazy, loudmouthed-

"Uzumaki Naruto, you will sit next to Sakura," her teacher called, giving the now wide emerald eyed girl a look that said _good luck._

A spiky blonde-haired boy came waltzing over to her, grinning from ear to ear. Sakura ignored him, pulling out her science notebook, scowling down at it.

God just loved to toy with her, didn't he?

_Of course, _she would get stuck with the most annoying kid in all of school. _Of course. _What _else _could go wrong today?

"Uh, did you know you're wearing a red shoe and an orange shoe?" Her new partner asked, staring at her quizzically.

Sakura turned a fake shocked-expression towards the blonde and replied, "_Really_? Gosh, I had _no clue._"

Sakura then turned away, glaring at the board while the teacher explained what meiosis and mitosis was.

"... did you know orange is my favorite color?" Naruto murmured quietly, probably the quietest she'd ever heard from the blonde.

Sakura turned to stare at the sun-kissed male, wondering if he was joking. As she stared at him though, and took in his appearance and his _orange _hoodie and _orange_ converse, she decided he was serious.

She smiled saying, "No, I didn't know that."

He smiled back and that's when Sakura noticed the whiskers on the side of his face. They looked like neat scratches, like it was done by an animal of some sort, and there were three of them, going across each cheek.

Sakura looked away, embarrassed for staring.

"Why do you have pink hair?" He asked.

Sakura's eyes hardened and she tried to look like the question hadn't affected her. But instead of answering him, she snapped back, "Why do you have whiskers on your face?"

He looked taken aback and answered back, "I-I don't know!"

Sakura smirked at him then. "Well I don't know why I have pink hair."

They stopped talking then, turning their attention to the front of the class where the teacher was talking, drawing squiggly nothings on the board.

When the bell finally rang, Sakura gathered her things hurriedly, about to leave and go to lunch but she stopped in her tracks when her partner said, "My name is Naruto by the way."

The pinkette stared at him and his outstretched hand. She slowly stretched out her arm and shook his hand, shocking them both by accident. "Sakura," the pinkette returned, still holding his hand, a smile spreading across her face.

"I know," Naruto said, grinning back at her. "Your name suits you."

Sakura turned to her belongings, trying to hide her blush. "Thanks," she muttered awkwardly.

The rosette gathered her belongings about to leave class again when Naruto asked, "What class do you have next period?"

"Lunch," Sakura answered, trying not to roll her eyes. The kid was nice, but he talked _way _too much.

"Oh cool! Me too!" He said, beginning to walk towards the door.

"Cool," Sakura said, thinking it was anything _but, _but she smiled anyways.

"Can I walk you to lunch?" The blonde asked.

Sakura _wanted _to refuse. She really did. This kid was annoying and he asked too many questions, and he was _loud._ But he was nice, and she didn't want to break the kid's heart by refusing. So she sighed, and murmured a, "Sure."

If possible, his grin widened and Sakura felt her heart squeeze a bit at the action. He began to talk to her about everything, about lunch, about his friends, about the weather, _everything._ Sakura merely nodded and at times replied but the pinkette mostly just let the blonde talk. He was so much like Ino, she wondered if they were related.

By the time they reached the cafeteria, lunch had already started, and Sakura found herself silently praying that her friends had saved her a seat. Naruto waved at her and told her goodbye, but Sakura merely waved, searching for her friends.

When she found them, she sat down at the spot that they had saved for her and immediately pulled out her sandwich, her stomach rumbling.

"Where have you been, Forehead? I worried we were gonna have to put your face on a milk carton!" Ino said, before munching on some chips.

Sakura merely shrugged saying, "This guy wanted to walk me to lunch."

"What?!" Ino said, pieces of chips spraying on the pinkette, who glared at her friend.

"I-Ino, you shouldn't talk w-with your mouth full," Hinata said quietly.

The pale-blonde ignored her turning to face Sakura. "Who was it? Is he cute? Do you like him?" Ino asked, beginning her interrogation.

Sakura shook her head, finishing her bite of sandwich and taking a swig from her water, enjoying making her blonde companion wait in anticipation.

"His name is Naruto, he's nice but super annoying, and no Ino, I do not like him," Sakura answered, smiling before taking another bite of sandwich.

Ino turned away, disinterested at the name _Naruto. _"Poor you, of course you would have _him _as an admirer."

Sakura glared at her friend, who had changed the topic to clothing and about some cute guy she saw in her class.

Sakura listened on, not really interested when she saw a flash of orange in her peripheral.

She turned and saw Naruto walking with his friends. He saw her and waved, his smile growing.

Sakura turned away, hiding her blush that had crept back up.

"I thought you said you didn't like him?" Ino said, a smirk adjourning her features.

"I _don't_!" Sakura snapped, scowling at the pale-blonde.

Ino's smirk merely grew and the baby blue-eyed girl replied, "Uh huh, _sure _you don't."

Before Sakura could protest, the pale-blonde had already changed the subject, leaving Sakura chanting inside her head, _'I _don't_ like him. I _do not_ like him. _I _so _do not _like _him_.'_

* * *

"S-sakura?"

Said girl turned to her long indigo-haired friend. "Yes, Hinata?" Sakura answered, before turning back to her painting. They were now in art and their teacher was in a good mood today, so she let them paint something expressing how they were feeling.

"W-who was that boy who Ino thought you liked?" Her friend stuttered out.

Sakura frowned, remembering the pale-blonde's earlier comments. "His name is Naruto." Sakura replied, dipping her paint brush into some water before drying it off, clearing it of its earlier color. "You don't think I like him do you?" Sakura asked, wondering what the quietest girl of their little group thought.

"N-no. Do you like him?" The pearl-eyed girl asked, staring intently at Sakura.

Sakura shook her head, scrunching up her nose in distaste. "He's not my type," Sakura answered, grinning at her friend who was now smiling.

"I-I think he's k-kind of cute," Hinata said.

Sakura stopped painting and turned to stare at Hinata. The long blue-haired girl had focused her attention back on her painting, stroking the paper with her brush in an elegant manner.

Sakura turned away, biting her lip as she picked up her brush again. "Really?" Sakura asked quietly, not really paying attention to what she was painting.

"Y-yeah, I've liked him for a while n-now, I just n-never knew his name so I n-never mentioned him," Hinata answered automatically, a light blush dusting her pale face while she smiled.

Sakura took a deep breath. Sakura felt her grip on the brush tighten and she accidentally snapped it. Sakura looked around, hoping her friend hadn't noticed, before picking up another brush like nothing had happened.

"Have you guys ever talked?" Sakura asked, listening intently for the other girl's answer.

"N-no, but he used to be in m-my biology class, b-but I guess he got switched out for the n-new semester," Hinata stuttered, her face falling just slightly.

Sakura turned away to hide her smile, adding a flash of color to her painting. "Oh, I'm sorry." Sakura said, even though she felt nothing of the sort.

"N-no worries. I was w-wondering if I s-should get him something for Valentines Day." The girl said, wiping her hands on her apron.

Sakura stared at her confused, like she'd never heard of the holiday before. "Valentines Day?" Sakura asked confused.

Hinata giggled. "Y-yeah, it's coming up you know. I-I was thinking of m-making him a card and t-telling him how I felt about him, b-but I don't know."

Sakura turned to face her friend. This was the first time that Hinata had ever admitted to actually _liking _a boy. Sure, Ino and her sometimes teased the shy girl about Kiba, who _clearly _digged the girl, and about some emo boy named Shino who stared at Hinata a lot, but this was the _first time _Hinata admitted to actually being attracted to somebody. So with that thought in mind, Sakura pushed her own discomfort at the idea away, and said, "You should do it Hinata."

The indigo-haired girl turned to stare at Sakura. "Y-you r-really think so?" Hinata stuttered, hope filling her face.

Sakura swallowed and replied, "Yeah, of course... I'll even help you if you like."

Hinata smiled, and went to hug Sakura. "O-oh t-thank you, Sakura! You're a great friend!" The girl said, hugging the pinkette tightly.

Sakura frowned but hugged Hinata back. She certainly didn't feel like one, but replied, "Thanks," anyways.

When the bell rang, Hinata grabbed her stuff and headed out the door, saying goodbye to Sakura before leaving.

Sakura gathered her belongings and put away her art supplies. Coming back to admire her painting, Sakura froze when she saw what she had created. Most of the art was covered in dark hues of purple and blue, to match her mood for the day. But at the bottom of the page was a mixture of red and yellow, and when combined, it formed one color: _orange._

Sakura quickly tore off the page, crumpling it in her hands before stuffing it in her bag.

* * *

Sakura rushed to gym, which was her last period of the day. She apologized to her teacher for being late, as she took a seat next to her friend, TenTen, in the bleachers.

"Hey, what kept you?" The brunette asked quietly while the teacher explained what they would be doing for the next semester.

"Had to finish cleaning up in art," Sakura muttered as she attempted to catch her breath from sprinting to the gym.

Sakura heard TenTen snicker and the rosette looked over at her friend who merely eyed her shoes with an amused look in her brown pools. Sakura scowled and attempted to hide her feet. "I was _rushed_ this morning, _okay_?" Sakura said sharply.

Sakura watched as TenTen attempted to swallow her laugh but failed as it came out in a snort. Sakura rolled her eyes. _Friends._

When TenTen finally regained control over herself, Sakura asked, "So anyone new join _hell _this semester?" Sakura asked, silently eyeing the people around her, looking for someone else she knew.

"Yeah, two guys from my grade, and two freshmen boys," TenTen replied, nodding to where the newbies' sat.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "So _guys _from your grade are _guys, _but _guys _from my grade are _boys?" _Sakura asked snidely.

TenTen merely shrugged. "You said it, I didn't. Besides, _look _at them Saks. They don't even look like _men, _they look like little _boys."_

Sakura rolled her eyes, staring at the freshmen guys. "To _you _maybe, but to _me-,"_

Sakura stopped short once she realized who_ exactly _the_ 'boys' _were_._

One, Sakura could easily tell from the back, was Kiba Inuzuka, the guy who _liked Hinata_. And the other, Sakura sucked in a breath, was the guy _Hinata liked. _

_Naruto._

Sakura blinked to make sure what she was seeing was right.

Spiky blonde hair, orange hoodie, scratches on the side of his face. Yupp, it was most _definitely_ Naruto.

Sakura sighed, shaking her pink head. She was _sure _the universe was just messing with her now.

The blonde turned and caught her staring, looking surprised to see her, but quickly grinned at Sakura and waved. Sakura's eyes widened and she looked around to make sure he was waving at her. Seeing no one else, she turned back to face the blonde who now looked amused at her antics.

Sakura glowered and turned away. Looking at the clock, she counted down the minutes until the bell would ring and end this horribly long awful day.

* * *

Ignoring everyone for the rest of the class, Sakura felt so relieved when the last bell went off, signalling that the day was _finally _over.

TenTen and Sakura made their way to the double doors, about to leave when a loud voice cried, "Hey!"

Both girls turned to see a spiky blonde making his way towards them, his eyes on Sakura.

Sakura merely narrowed her eyes and kept walking, TenTen following her in confusion.

"Hey! Wait up!" Naruto yelled again. Sakura only quickened her pace.

"Um Sakura, I think-," TenTen started to say before Sakura interrupted, "Come on, we can't miss the busses."

And then someone was pulling on Sakura's arm, making her swivel and gasp in shock at who it was.

Naruto stood there, her arm in his grip while he panted, trying to get his breath back.

"Did- didn't you h-hear me?" He asked breathlessly.

Sakura turned away, scowling as a blush made its way to her face for the _third _time that day. She yanked her arm away from his grip and asked coldly, _"_Do you _need _something?"

Naruto just stared at her before replying, "I didn't know you had gym this period."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "How _would_ you know that?" Sakura asked sarcastically, turning to walk towards the busses again, nodding at TenTen to follow.

Naruto laughed. "I guess I wouldn't know that, huh?" He said, easily keeping her pace while scratching the back of his head nervously.

Sakura didn't reply, just kept walking, her viridian orbs narrowed.

"Hey wait-," Naruto said pulling her to a stop.

She was about to ask what the _hell _his problem was, when he pointed at her cheek and said, "You've got a bit of paint right there."

Sakura just stared at him in confusion, not understanding what he was saying. _Paint?_

"Here let me get it," Naruto said, licking his thumb before bringing it up to her face. Sakura initially flinched away, her face bright red as she said, "I'll get it myself."

Sakura wiped her face with her jacket sleeve before pulling it back to look at the color. _Orange. _Sakura rolled her eyes. _Of course._

Sakura turned to face Naruto, who was biting his lip to keep from smiling and coughed to cover up his laughter.

Sakura glared at the sun-kissed male before snapping, "_What?"_

Naruto just shook his blonde head, replying, "Nothing. You just smeared more across your face, though."

Sakura felt like slapping the forehead she was nick-named after.

Naruto came closer towards her, his larger form towering over hers as he asked, "May I?"

Sakura hesitated, staring into his bright blue pools, before sighing and nodding yes, her face heating from the blush she knew was spreading across her cheeks.

He once again licked his thumb, and cupped her face in his large hand as his thumb brushed over the skin on her cheek where she assumed the paint was.

Naruto's thumb brushing over her skin left a heated blaze wherever it went. Sakura felt herself shudder, and pulled her jacket tighter, pretending it was the cold January wind that had caused the reaction.

Sakura felt like hours had passed as he wiped the retched paint from her face. _Jesus, _how long_ does it _fucking_ take to get _paint off_? _Sakura thought annoyed, her face turning into a scowl.

"There," Naruto murmured, his blue pools catching her green ones as he rubbed his thumb across her cheek one more time before pulling his hand away. "Good as new," he said, grinning at her.

Sakura muttered a, "Thanks," before turning to TenTen, who was giving her a knowing smirk.

"Anytime," Naruto replied, still walking with her stride-for-stride.

The three fell silent, listening to the sound of their foot falls on the sidewalk.

TenTen cleared her throat in a purposeful way, ending the awkward silence, and Sakura glared at the brunette before sighing.

"TenTen, this is Naruto. Naruto, TenTen." Sakura muttered, gesturing who was who in a tired manner.

"Hi," Naruto said holding out his hand for TenTen to shake, grinning from ear to ear. _Was he _always _this cheery?_

TenTen shook his hand smiling back and replying, "Hey." The brunette then eyed Sakura before asking, "So how do you guys know each other?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at TenTen who merely smirked in return.

"We're biology partners," Naruto said, grinning down at Sakura, who just blinked.

TenTen laughed. "You could've fooled me. You guys have _such_ _great chemistry," _the brunette said, her smirk growing.

Sakura stared wide-eyed at her _friend_. Her emerald orbs hardened at TenTen before she punched the brunette on the arm, _hard. _"TenTen!" Sakura reprimanded, her face reddening from the joke.

TenTen laughed, rubbing her arm.

"That was _really _corny," Naruto said, laughing.

Sakura stared at the spiky blonde who stared back, a light blush dusting his cheeks. Before Sakura could get lost in his blue pools, she turned away and snapped, "Why are you laughing?"

"Cause it was funny!" Naruto replied, still chuckling.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "_No _it _wasn't,"_ she replied icily.

Sakura saw him bite his lip to keep from laughing but saw his shoulders shaking from the repressed laughter. She turned her angered gaze on him, asking heatedly, "Now _what?"_

"... You just look funny when you're mad," Naruto replied, his voice dying off at the end as he started to laugh again.

Sakura felt herself blush before she hit him on the arm. Naruto cried out, "Ow!", but still continued to grin down at her.

Sakura groaned aloud, stomping away from the two _idiots_, a heavy blush adjourning her features.

"I'll see you in biology tomorrow, _partner," _Naruto called after her.

In reply, she held up her middle finger to him and continued her trek to the busses, stomping angrily when she heard him laugh.

Sakura found her bus and climbed on to the ugly contraption, heading for the back.

Finding an empty seat, Sakura pulled out her phone and texted Ino, saying, _'Worst. Day. EVER! :('_

When TenTen sat in the seat next to her, Sakura turned to stare out the bus window, a scowl marring her pretty features.

"Oh come on Saks, I was just joking!" TenTen said in an exasperated tone.

"Did I have _paint _on my face _the whole period, _TenTen?" Sakura asked, turning to glare at the brunette.

TenTen gulped aloud. "W-well you seemed pretty pissed off about your shoes, so I didn't want to make you angrier by pointing out that you had something on your face!" TenTen said, hoping Sakura would buy the excuse.

Sakura merely blew her pink bangs out of her eyes in an annoyed manor. "Rude, Tennie, just plain _rude."_ Sakura muttered before sighing and slouching in her seat.

TenTen smiled at the nick-name, replying, "Oh _come on, _Saks. Don't pretend I didn't do you a favor."

Sakura turned her head sharply to stare at the brown-eyed babe, snapping back, "In what way was _any of that _a _favor?"_

TenTen scoffed. "Well for one thing, if I had told you about the paint, you wouldn't have had _Mr. Cute _wipe it off your face, now would you?"

Sakura smirked, not at the comment, but at what she had called Naruto. "_Mr. Cute? _I thought freshmen _guys _were _boys _to an old woman like you?" Sakura answered snidely.

TenTen rolled her eyes. "Oh hush, you know what I mean."

Sakura just smiled, shaking her head at the girl.

"What would you do _without_ me, Sakura?" TenTen asked dramatically, placing the back of her hand on her forehead, her eyes closed, a small smile on her face.

"My life would probably be a hell of a lot simpler then it is now with you in it," Sakura replied, grinning. The pinkette laughed at the look the older girl gave her before pushing her toward the window, demanding that Sakura take it back.

* * *

It was eleven o'clock at night and Sakura found herself wide awake, tossing and turning in her bed.

The rosette sighed for the umpteenth time, scowling as she tried to get comfy.

Sakura closed her green orbs, willing herself to go to sleep.

But all she saw when she closed her eyes was the color _orange_ and _deep blue orbs_.

Sakura's eyes snapped open as she glared at the ceiling.

_What. The. Fucking. HELL!_

Sakura groaned, deciding to get herself a glass of water.

The fourteen year old silently tip toed to the kitchen. Opening the fridge as quietly as she could, Sakura pulled out a water bottle before closing the fridge door just as silently.

All of that quietness was a waste of energy though, when Sakura turned around and screamed.

Sakura's father started yelling then, fumbling around the kitchen for the light switch.

When he flicked it on, Sakura was heaving in gulps of air as her green eyes dilated, getting used to the brightness.

Sakura narrowed her eyes, still breathing hard, as she laid her eyes on her father, still dressed in his work cloths.

"Did you just get home?!" Sakura asked angrily.

"Yeah. Why were you screaming?" he asked puzzled, his mustache twitching.

Sakura glared at her father. "_Because _I saw it was eleven o'clock at night and decided to scream to show how excited I was!" Sakura said answered, pushing past her father who muttered, "Well, that's just silly Sakura."

He smiled at her but Sakura kept her scowl steady.

"By the way, I had the _worst _day of my life today, so_ thank you_ for just making it _that much_ worse by scaring the _shit _out of me." Sakura said smartly, turning away from her father.

"Why did you have a bad day, sweetheart?" Her father asked, concern etched in his voice.

Sakura gritted her teeth together, his compassion making her_ that much _more angrier.

"Gee, I don't know dad, maybe it started when you _refused _to take me back home when I didn't grab the _right_ _fucking shoe!" _Sakura yelled, running to her room and slamming the door shut.

Sakura breathed heavily, letting her back rest against the door as she glared at her bed.

Sakura took a sip from her water before collapsing on her bed.

Sakura laid there, staring up at her ceiling, thinking about how stupid her day had been.

_Stupid dad, with his stupid work, and not being able to take me back home so I could grab my stupid matching shoe. _

_And stupid friends, for being stupidly loud._

_Stupid teachers for being stupidly mean and bitchy._

_Stupid boy, for being stupidly annoying and stupidly cute at the sam-_

Sakura's eyes widened.

No. _No._

Naruto _was not _cute. _Hinata _thought Naruto _was cute_. _Hinata liked Naruto._

Even as she said this to herself, Sakura couldn't help but think about Naruto and his hand cupping her face, his wet thumb brushing her skin, his warm body just inches away from her own.

Sakura sighed, curling into a ball, pulling the covers over herself.

_She did _not _like Naruto._

_She did _not _like Naruto._

_She did _not _like Naruto._

_She ... did _not _like Naruto._

_She ...did _not ..._like Naruto._

_She ... did _not ... _like ... Naruto._

_She ... did ... _not ... _like ... Naruto._

_...She ... did ... _not ... _like ... Naruto ..._

_... She ... did ... _not ... _like ... Naruto ..._

_... She ... _**did**... _like ... Naruto ..._

* * *

**Sorry the last part was kind of lame, but I thought that would be cute for Sakura to fall asleep saying she didn't like Naruto and then it end with her admitting that she did. :) I had actually meant for this to be a really long one-shot, but as I reached close to 5,000 words, I decided against it _cause this is only the beginning!_ If there are any mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them! Alright, tell me your thoughts so I may continue this story! Adios! :)**


	2. Days 2 through 32

**_Day 2_**

* * *

When Sakura woke up the next morning, having set her alarm clock extra early, she made sure she had time to grab an extra pair of shoes, less she go to school looking like an idiot _again._

The pink-haired girl grabbed a granola bar and water before heading out to her mother's car. After what had happened yesterday and last night, she didn't really feel like facing her father yet.

So she had to have her erratically hair-brained mother take her to school.

Sakura was the first one in the car, and ten minutes later, her mother came out of the house, locking the front door behind her, her father already having left for work.

As her mother hopped in the car, her arms full of what all she needed for work the day ahead, Sakura couldn't help but eye the car clock, wincing in realization that they were supposed to have left eight minutes ago. Her mother hated being late, and how did she make up for it? By driving recklessly and fast.

As soon as her mother started the car, she glanced at the time and cursed quietly, pulling out of the driveway without having buckled up yet. She accidentally ran over the curb and Sakura held on for dear life, praying her mother's coffee or her water for that matter wouldn't spill on her pants. It had done so before, but with Sakura's dad. And Sakura's father, the punctual and very loud-lecturing type when angry, yelled at her all the way on their trip back home as she cried silently, just happy that she was being able to change her pants and relieved that she wouldn't walk into school looking like she'd peed herself.

As expected, when they hit traffic, her mother's temper flared up and she began to curse at the car in front of her. Sakura didn't know why her mother seemed surprized; there was traffic every morning, what had she expected.

Sighing, the older Haruno turned her head to her daughter and said, "Well since we have all the time in the world now, why don't you tell me _your _side of the story about all the yelling and screaming I heard last night."

Sakura felt herself blush in embarrassment but rolled her eyes and looked away. "I don't want to talk about it," the girl answered quietly.

"Ok," Sakura's mother resigned only to add, "Then let me tell you _my _side."

Sakura turned to look out the window, knowing she was about to be bitched out.

"I'm trying to sleep and get a good night's rest for tomorrow, and I hear my daughter _yelling and screaming_ at her father. When her father comes to bed-," after that Sakura mostly tuned out, knowing at the end, her mother was going to want her to apologize to _her _and _her father. _

Sakura scowled before interrupting harshly, "Yeah, I got it mom, I'm sorry and I'll apologize to dad later." Sakura bit her lip to keep from adding a snarky reply, knowing it would only lead to more trouble.

Her mother only stared in shock, her matching green eyes widening before she nodded and said, "Thank you for apologizing Sakura."

Sakura just turned away, hoping her mother would just hurry up and drop her off at school already.

* * *

When she arrived at school, Ino teased her, saying, "Oh look! You got dressed all by yourself and you _actually _look decent!"

Sakura merely rolled her eyes, punching her best friend's shoulder.

The rest of the day continued as normally as any other school day. Her spanish teacher also teased her saying, "_Woah,_ en realidad estás usando el calzado adecuado hoy!" Sakura merely replied to his comment about her wearing the right shoes today with a blush and a, "Si."

As Sakura made her way to biology, she recounted the events that had happened the day before. The spiky loud-mouth blonde and his large grin. The way he had brushed his moistened thumb across her cheek to get some paint off. A blush staining his sun-kissed skin.

Sakura sighed before shaking her betraying thoughts away. No. One of her best friends had just admitted to liking this boy. She couldn't think about Naruto like that. They would just be acquaintances, friends at the most.

But Sakura's emerald gaze widened, and all thoughts of them being _friends _were put on hold because as she entered the classroom and came to stand near her seat next to him, she couldn't help but glance down at his feet, familiar colors catching her eyes.

Her brows knitted together and she gritted her teeth, throwing her hands on her hips firmly.

The blonde merely glanced up and smiled at her.

"Hey Sakur-_Ahh!" _Naruto greeted before Sakura pulled him up to her face by the collar of his shirt.

"Are you making fun of me, _Uzumaki?" _The pinkette seethed, glaring hard into his wide ocean pools.

The spiky blonde just stared at her, bewildered. "W-what are you talking abou-"

"Don't play dumb with me! You're _mocking _me!" Sakura cut him off, eyeing his shoes with disdain before bringing her hard eyes back to his.

The blonde shook his head, saying, "N-no! It's not what you think!"

"Then _what_ is it?" Sakura said, eyeing him and bringing him closer to her face.

He looked down and swallowed hard, staring down at the discolored shoes that had caused all the trouble. He rose his aqua colored eyes back to hers, a light blush dusting his whiskered, sun-kissed face.

"I was hoping it could be our thing," The blonde said in explanation, shrugging lightly, his eyes trained on hers as Sakura felt her eyes widen.

Sakura blinked in shocked, as her grasp on him loosened.

The rosette quickly glanced down at Naruto's footwear.

His left foot was dressed in a bright red converse, and his right foot adorned an obnoxiously orange sneaker to match. Just as her own feet had worn the day before. He had even put the mismatched colors on the same feet that she had.

Sakura felt a blush stain her cheeks as she looked up from the shoes and into Naruto's pools. _Great, _Sakura thought. _Now we have a thing. _

She hadn't realised how close she had pulled the blonde towards her, his nose almost brushing her own.

Sakura slowly dropped him from her grasp, him landing back in his seat, as she sighed in exasperation. She could feel the eyes of some of her peers on her, only making Sakura's face continue to redden.

The pinkette shrugged, determined not to embarrass herself further before taking her seat, letting her bag drop to the floor.

"Well if you want to embarrass yourself on a daily basis, by all means wear them, but don't expect me to do the same." Sakura said sharply, bending down to pull her science notebook from her bag, acting like she hadn't just made a fool of herself, while Naruto laughed uproariously at her.

As the pinkette pulled out her notebook, a crumpled piece of paper fell out of her pack and on to the tile floor.

Confusion and then recognition flashed in her eyes and she snatched out to grab it, only to have her blonde partner pick it up before her.

Before Sakura could protest, Naruto had opened the piece of paper and studied the wrinkled painting that she had drawn yesterday.

Sakura bit her lip and blushed, looking away from Naruto.

A large grin adorned his features and turned to her and said, "I like it!"

Sakura merely blushed deeper, murmuring a "Thanks."

"It looks like morning, you know, like when the sun is rising?" Naruto said, tracing the color at the bottom of the page.

Sakura glanced at him and smiled, surprised he had a deeper level than his normally goofy self.

"Why was it stuffed in your backpack though?" He asked, his blue eyes penetrating.

Sakura glanced away, shrugging before replying, "I didn't want it."

Silence fell between them before Naruto asked tentatively, "Can I have it?"

Sakura turned to stare at the blonde, the grin on his face sincere, his blue pools shining.

Sakura smiled, and replied, "Keep it."

If possible, Naruto's grin grew so that it stretched from ear to ear and he said, "Thanks!" He smoothed it out before placing it in the front of his binder.

Sakura couldn't help the mirth that filled her at the action, and she turned away, attempting to hide her wide smile.

* * *

**_Day 8_**

* * *

_"Sakura!_ Scoot over, I want to see too!" Naruto whined.

Sakura smiled and pulled away from the microscope while Naruto eagerly leaned in to view the small organisms in the petri dishes.

The pinkette watched his mouth form an 'O' shape, laughing while he did so.

When the spiky blonde pulled back, his eyes narrowed and he said, "Did that little green guy in there wave at you?"

Sakura shook her pink head, staring at Naruto. "Why? Did he wave back at you?"

The blonde nodded, pulling the pinkette back to the microscope where she stared in on the little microorganisms. Sure enough, there was a green one and it was wiggling around, almost looking like it was trying to wave.

Standing, Sakura gave Naruto a serious look and said, "I didn't see anything, Naruto."

The blonde gaped at her. "_What?_ How could you _not_ see him?"

The sun-kissed male again leaned down to investigate before pulling right back up and yanking Sakura over to the tool, urging her to look again.

The green thing was still wiggling, probably even more so than before, but Sakura kept to her lie, sighing as she straightened. "Honestly, Naruto, I don't see anything. Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Sakura asked, placing a hand on her hip and resisting the urge to smile at Naruto's confusion.

"I-I don't know...," he said more seriously, running a hand through his blond locks as his blue eyes widened.

Sakura tried to cover up her snort of laughter with a cough, but Naruto caught it and turned to face her, eyes narrowed.

"You little liar!" He yelled, poking her on the arm. Sakura merely laughed while the spiky blonde eyed her suspiciously.

"What's going on over here?!" Their biology teacher ordered, her brown eyes glaring at the two.

Sakura was about to reply, "Nothing," but Naruto interjected before she could say it.

"Sakura was trying to trick me into thinking I was the only one who saw the little green thing waving!"

Their science teacher arched an eyebrow before shooing Naruto away from the device before peering at the petri dish.

When she pulled away she stared at Naruto and said, "Mr. Uzumaki, I don't see anything as well. Stop harassing Ms. Haruno and get back to work."

She turned and left, Naruto and Sakura both having stunned looks on their faces.

"Pfft!" Sakura said, her shoulders shaking while she bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"This is sabotage! I know-" but Naruto didn't get to finish as Sakura erupted in a fit of laughter, holding on to the desk to keep her up right.

She didn't catch the light blush or the grin spreading across the blonde's face at the sight of her laughing so hard.

Naruto began to laugh with her, her giggles infectious, and it wasn't until the teacher told them to be quiet that they actually stopped laughing, trying to suppress their snickers throughout the rest of the period.

* * *

**_Day 11_**

* * *

Sakura pulled on her black spandex shorts and long-sleeved blue and green school shirt, tying up her black and white Puma shoes. Normally, she preferred to wear her normal Vans or Converse during work outs, but today, their teacher had instructed them to head for the track, meaning they would be running a full mile today.

Competitive by nature, Sakura only wore her Puma when she wanted to be light and fast on her feet, something that would help improve her speed.

She went to go look in the mirror, pulling her straight pink hair out of her face and into a long sleek ponytail.

"Hey Saks," TenTen called, finishing up lacing her shoes. The brunette wore a pair of yoga pants along with the same shirt, her hair pulled up in a bun.

The brunette looked Sakura up and down, whistling lowly. Sakura grinned.

"Damn girl, I hope you brought a good sports bra, other wise every one is going to see that you're... _cold." _TenTen said smirking.

Sakura frowned and looked down at her boobs. As far as she could tell, she couldn't see her nipples through her blouse, but not wanting to take any chances, she crossed her arms over chest.

"What about you?" Sakura asked, narrowing her eyes before nodding to the other girl's breasts.

TenTen scoffed. "Honey, I'm not the one wearing _booty shorts _in the middle of January."

Sakura glared at TenTen lightly. "I'm wearing them so I can move faster and beat your ass."

The brown-eyed girl chuckled before they exited the girl's locker room, making their way towards the track.

Sakura cursed as they stepped outside, the cool January wind feeling icy cold to her bare legs.

"Holy shit, it's cold, Cold, COLD!" Sakura sang out quickening her pace towards the track, her brunette companion following while laughing and saying, "I told you so!"

The faster they got this over and done with, the faster she could be back inside, in the nice, warm heated locker room.

As they approached the track, Sakura saw Naruto talking to some guys. Kiba, and the guys from TenTen's grade.

They made their way towards them, Sakura coming to stand in the middle, hoping their larger bodies would block the wind.

"Oh, Sakura! Are you cold? I could hug you to keep you warm!" Lee pronounced loudly, seeing Sakura shaking and chattering.

"N-no I'm f-fine, L-lee," Sakura stuttered out, narrowing her eyes and unconsciously scooting further away from the boy. She had just been introduced to the tenth grader by TenTen mere days ago and already she could tell he had a major crush on her. Sakura found it slightly creepy that they had just met for the first time and already he was starting to follow her around. He was nice, the pinkette could give him that, but _creepy__. _Plus, he had really bushy eyebrows that kind of intimidated her.

"Who the _hell_ wears shorts in the middle of winter?" Kiba asked, rubbing his hands over his arms, staring at her like she was crazy. Now Kiba, she had known him ever since elementary school, and he would always tease her but Sakura didn't mind because they had known each other for so long. That didn't mean she wouldn't hit the spiky brown-haired kid if he pissed her off enough though.

"S-someone who's g-gonna b-beat your asses in this race," Sakura chattered out, narrowing her eyes as she stared into his dark brown pools.

All the guys wore sweat pants and long-sleeved shirts, and even they were cold. Well most of the guys. There was one blonde-haired boy who refused to be like the others and had on some basketball shorts. Naruto grinned down at Sakura.

"You wanna bet?" Kiba challenged, smirking down at her.

She glared up at him, replying, "F-fine."

He grinned down at her, like she had just made a deal with the devil. Kiba clapped his hands together and said, "Ok. First one to the finish line is the winner."

Sakura rolled her eyes, snapping back, "N-no sh-shit."

Kiba ignored her, continuing. "Losers will have to... will have to...," the tan boy trailed off, contemplating.

"L-losers sh-should have to buy the winner l-lunch for a week!" Naruto stuttered out from the cold, grinning.

TenTen rolled her brown pools. "Naruto, not everyone has an abyss of a stomach like you do." She said, before snapping her fingers together. "I got it! Losers have to do the winner's homework for a week!"

Everyone glanced at each other, seeing if anyone would refuse. Neji, the most mature of the little group sighed and asked, "Can't we just run the damn mile and be done with it?"

Sakura sneered at him, saying, "A-awe, little Neji is ch-chicken!"

He whipped his pearl orbs that were so much like his cousins' Hinata's eyes that for a second Sakura thought the indigo haired girl was glaring at her and not her older long-haired cousin. Sakura had known Neji just as long as she had known Hinata, and while they were not especially close, the pinkette knew he liked her. Or at least tolerated her.

"Haha! Neji is a chicken! Neji is a chicken!" TenTen teased, before he turned towards her and pushed her away lightly, the girl laughing.

"Bwak-bwak!" Naruto said, folding his hands under his arms, before strutting around like a chicken, Kiba joining him. "Bwak-Bwak-BWAK!"

Neji glared at the blonde, smacking him upside the head before doing the same to Kiba.

"Fine. I'll do the stupid bet," the dark brown-haired sophomore grumbled.

The small group cheered making their way to the starting line, anxious for the race to start.

When the gym instructor made his appearance, he told the students that they would have to run four laps around the track for it to equal one mile.

Sakura felt the pressure begin to rise as the time went by. She positioned herself on the ground, angling herself so she could get a good kick off.

"On your marks...", they gym teacher called, his hand raised.

Sakura glanced on either side of her. TenTen was in the same position as her and the brunette winked playfully at Sakura. Next to her was Neji, who had a determined look in his lavender orbs that made Sakura swallow hard. She most certainly _did not _want to get stuck with the Hyuga's homework, considering he took all advanced courses. Next to him was Rock Lee and he wiggled his butt in the air, his stance similar to her own.

The pinkette turned to her right then and saw Kiba on all four's ready to push-off at any second. And finally, next to her, brushing his arm slightly with hers was Naruto. He was grinning at her, a focussed and determined look pooling in his deep blue orbs. "May the best person win," He said holding out his hand to shake with hers, the chattering in his voice gone.

Sakura smirked at the blonde before shaking his hand, saying, "I plan too."

"Get set...," her gym instructor said, raising his arm higher, lifting a whistle to his mouth.

Sakura closed her eyes and breathed, feeling her heart beat from excitement. She tensed her muscles, getting ready to make a mad dash.

As soon as she heard the whistle blow, Sakura snapped her green orbs open and dashed forward, letting the wind help carry her as she sprinted ahead.

The pinkette didn't dare look back, just kept running. She could hear the sound of shoes bounding across the pavement slowly die down around her as she increased her speed around the first curve, knowing her peers were most likely to slow down.

Sakura kept running, breathing in through her nose and out through mouth as she raced forward down the track, nothing but the sound of wind billowing her pink strands back. It was harder to race against the wind than with it, but Sakura managed, not slowing down for a second.

Sakura felt her heart beat quicken when she heard the sound of someone coming up behind her, and the pinkette pushed herself forward, willing her legs to go faster.

Sakura couldn't believe it when she still heard the person keeping her pace, if not going faster.

As the person came up from behind her, to running beside her, she glanced at her side and felt her eyes narrow.

"Bye, Sakura! Don't worry, I won't give you as much homework as the others!" Lee called as he raced away at a speed that Sakura envied.

The rosette merely growled, vowing to catch up with him.

She increased her pace when she felt the wind pushing her forward again, having already finished her first lap. The small lithe girl just kept running, not slowing for a second, keeping an even pace until she reached the other side, the side where the wind wanted to push against her small form.

She groaned as she struggled to keep up her fast pace, hearing another set of feet come up to run beside her. She glanced over at Neji who merely smirked and stuck his tongue out before continuing forward with ease, ahead of her.

Sakura glared daggers at his back, pushing herself harder, until she was closer to him.

As Sakura kept on Neji's tail, she heard yet another pair of feet catch up to her.

The pinkette rolled her viridian pools as Kiba pushed passed her saying, "I'll see you at the finish line, babe!" He smirked at her before going in front of her, just a couple of yards away.

When Sakura heard another pair of feet bounding up next to her, she groaned out loud, saying, "Oh come on!"

The pinkette looked to her side and saw TenTen smirking, easily keeping pace with her.

"So," TenTen panted. "Do you think Lee's homework will be easy?" The brunette asked.

"The race isn't over yet," Sakura said pushing herself farther. Or what she thought was farther but was probably nothing because TenTen easily caught up to her.

The out of breath rosette heard another pair of legs bounding across the pavement and her eyes widened at his speed.

"Hey Sakura, TenTen," Naruto said, coming to run on Sakura's other side.

"Naruto," Sakura gritted out, trying to sprint past the two.

"I thought you said you were gonna win?" The blonde panted, his arm brushing against hers.

"I _AM!" _The pinkette exasperated pushing herself further, her breaths becoming pants for air.

"Are you sure?" The blonde asked. "Because this is the last lap, and we're at the very back and Lee is at the front."

Sakura glared ahead, refusing to acknowledge him. "I can still do this," she panted out.

Surprisingly, the spiky blonde nodded and grinned. "I know you can. You just need a little more incentive..." he trailed off.

Sakura glanced at him warily, wondering what the _hell_ he was talking about.

And then she knew what he meant, because as they were running side by side, he slowed a bit and reached around her form and squeezed her ass.

Sakura yelped, her eyes going wide and she faltered in her step, nearly tripping over her feet.

"See ya, TenTen!" Naruto yelled, sprinting forwards with a new urgency.

Sakura swore all she saw was red. Suddenly, TenTen wasn't beside her anymore as Sakura lurched forward towards the blonde idiot. Who the hell did he think he was?!

Sakura didn't even notice as she passed Kiba, who seemed stunned by her fast sprinting form.

Sakura's viridian orbs were drawn to the back of the blonde's spiky head, and she truly felt a large surge of emotion to beat him to a pulp for touching her rear.

Sakura didn't even notice the bewildered look Neji gave her she passed, her only attention on getting caught up to her biology partner.

And then she was a couple of yards away, and then a few feet and then they were side by side, arms brushing once again. She felt like tripping him but as the pair continued, Sakura saw Lee, just feet in front of her. How had she caught up to the front so fast?

Realization hit the rosette at what Naruto had meant by incentive, and while she may have not liked the way he had done it, she realized is he hadn't squeezed her ass, she would still be in the back there with TenTen instead of just a yard away from victory.

Sakura plastered a smile on her features as they approached the finish line, Lee just a foot away.

And then they were side by side with Lee, and the sleek-bowl haired boy was pushing himself to go harder, but it was no use as Naruto and Sakura sprinted ahead of him, leaving him in the dust.

"We did it, Sakura! We caught up to- WAHH!" Naruto began to pant out before Sakura tackled Naruto across the finish line, rolling on top of each other as they crossed it.

Sakura punched Naruto on the shoulder, _really hard_, yelling,"If you ever touch my ass again pervert, I'll break your nose! You got that?"

Naruto merely rubbed his arm whining, "Ow Sakura! That's gonna leave a bruise!"

"Good," the pinkette answered before standing, holding out her hand for Naruto to take while grinning down at him.

Instead of pulling him back up, Naruto pulled Sakura back down, where they lay, panting on the ground, trying to regain their breath as they savored the feeling of victory.

Their health coach made his way towards them and said, "Wow, Uzumaki, Haruno, I didn't think you had it in you."

Naruto smirked at Sakura, replying, "All you need is a little-OW! Ok, Uncle!" Naruto tried to say before Sakura punched him the gut.

Naruto rolled to a stand before offering his hand to Sakura, who let herself be pulled up.

As he pulled her up, he immediately, blushed and looked away before glancing back at her, a small smile on his lips.

Confused, Sakura asked, "What?"

"Nothing," Naruto coughed, but his face reddened further. "H-hey, I'm glad we don't have to do homework for a week!" He said, unsuccessfully trying to change the subject.

Sakura nodded, her eyes narrowing. "Yeah, uh-huh, that's great. Now what's up?"

Naruto looked down at the ground, dragging a toe through the dirt before he looked up at her, and then down at her chest, and then back up at her again.

"You... You just look... _cold,_" Naruto finally answered and the pinkette's eyes widened as she looked down at her chest, screaming in realization, that _yes, _she was most definitely_ 'cold'_**_._**

Sakura covered her chest with her arms, her face turning scarlet while Naruto grinned like an idiot at her, his face also a deep red.

"You perve!" Sakura cried, running back to the locker room, arms covering her chest while Naruto laughed behind her.

* * *

_**Day 17**_

* * *

It had been about three weeks since she had met Naruto that he asked her if she wanted to sit with him and his friends at lunch.

The pinkette stared up at him in surprize, before saying sheepishly, "Oh! Uh, well I kind of already sit with some of my friends alread-"

"They can come to if they want!" Naruto interrupted, smiling.

Sakura just blinked up at him. The pinkette had always wanted to sit with a big group of friends during lunch, much bigger than the group she sat with now, but she wasn't about to leave her girls to go sit with a bunch of messy _boys._

Sakura sighed then before replying, "Let me ask them what they think."

Naruto grinned and Sakura felt butterflies at the thought of sitting with him and his friends.

She turned and made her way towards her friends, not expecting Naruto to follow.

"There you are Sakura! Why are you always so- _Oh!" _Ino started to say before she looked behind Sakura only for her blue pools to return to the pinkette, a smirk etched on her pretty features.

Sakura turned her head, and saw the grinning face of Naruto inches behind her. She blushed, turning back to her friends, a scowl on her lips and said, "Naruto asked us if we wanted to have lunch with him and his friends."

"Hell Yeah!" Ino replied, already gathering up her stuff, pushing the rest of a Twinkie into her mouth. "Les do dis!" Ino said, mouth full, crumbs flying.

Sakura glared at the pale-blonde before turning to Hinata, whose face was beet red. Sakura frowned. Then her eyes widened and she bent down to Hinata's ear, a smirk on her lips before whispering, "You know, you might get to know Naruto a little better if we go and sit with him and his friends."

She heard Hinata swallow before nodding slowly, gathering her things. Just as the indigo-haired girl turned around, her foot caught the leg of the chair and she nearly fell until a strong pair of arms caught her.

Sakura looked away, almost wishing _she_ had been the one to fall instead so it would Naruto catching _her_, smiling down at _her_ furiously blushing red face.

Naruto studied her face saying, "Hey, you okay? Your face is all red. You're not sick are you?"

Sakura felt her eye brows furrow at the scene and she bit out, "No Naruto she's just shy, now would you let go of her?"

Naruto released the girl, smiling. Hinata muttered out a,"Th-thank y-you," before walking towards the table, finding an empty seat._  
_

Naruto grinned ear to ear at Sakura then.

The pinkette rolled her eyes, a smile tugging at her lips as she walked past him and towards the table that she and her friends would undoubtfully be sitting at for the rest of the year.

Sakura found an empty chair and sat in it, smiling at the rest of the people at the table while Naruto took up the seat next to her.

"You're in my spot, Ugly."

Sakura froze her eyes going wide.

No... It couldn't be.

Sakura turned around and frowned up at the familiar face of Sai, the pale boy giving her a small smile.

_"You sit here?!"_ Sakura said, anger laced through her pretty voice.

"Duh, that's what I just said, Ugly." The boy said, his impossibly black pools boring into her own. He tried to shoo her from his seat, but Sakura remained seated, smirking up at him.

"I'm not moving until you take back what you said," Sakura replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

Sai blinked down at her before sighing, taking a seat to her. "I refuse to lie," he stated monotonously.

Sakura glared at him, punching him hard on the arm.

The rest of the table was silent while watching the exchange, so when Sakura turned forward, she was met with seven pairs of eyes staring at her widely.

The pinkette laughed nervously, blushing.

"Geez, Saks, I can't believe you went so easy on him!" Kiba said, laughing.

"Yeah, I usually punch him in the face when he calls me- er when he calls me a name." Naruto added in, blushing while rubbing his neck.

After that the table fell silent and Sakura had to clear her throat and elbow Naruto to remind him of introductions.

"Oh! Oh yeah, not everyone knows each other, do they?" The spiky blonde asked, laughing nervously.

Sakura rolled her viridian pools before saying, "I'm Sakura." She smiled brightly before elbowing Sai.

"Ow! Oh I'm Sai," He said, a small smile on his lips while he rubbed his arm.

A dark-haired guy sitting besides Sai with his hair pulled into a pineapple up do said, "Shikamaru."

Ino smiled at him from her place next to him before turning to the rest of the group and said, "I'm Ino!" She was smiling widely.

A larger guy munching on some chips looked up and said, "Choji", a grin plastered to his face.

A spiky-haired kid with sunglasses on muttered, "Shino," and Sakura and Ino both gave Hinata a look which made the girl blush before she stuttered out, "I'm H-Hinata."

Then Kiba smirked and said while grinning, "Kiba, but you all know me already."

Ino raised her hand and said smartly, "Uh, I don't."

He glanced at her before smiling. "Don't worry baby, you won't be able to forget my name by the end of the year." He winked at her and Ino pretended to gag. Sakura rolled her eyes.

The last person was Naruto and he merely said, "And I'm Naruto, and I'm starving so let's eat already!"

Everyone murmured their agreements before pulling out their lunches, ready to dig in.

"So Naruto, " Ino said while unwrapping her sandwich. "Why did you want Sakura to sit with you?"

Sakura choked on the water she was drinking, coughing to try to clear it. Naruto was doing the same, but with some crackers, so it went spraying on the people closest to him. Kiba wiped his face with his sleeve before rubbing it back on Naruto's usual orange jacket.

The sun-kissed male blushed stuttering out, "C-cause we're friends!"

Ino eyed us both and I couldn't help but blush under knowing gaze. "Mhmm, yeah you guys just keep telling yourselves that," she replied taking a bite from her sandwich with a smirk.

Sakura glared at the pale-blonde, silently telling her to shut the hell up. Her best friend shrugged and winked back at her.

Sakura rolled her eyes, turning to Kiba. "So Inuzuka, are you trying your hardest on _my _homework?" Sakura questioned with a smirk.

Kiba sent her and Naruto a glare. "Calm your tits, Neji, Lee, TenTen and I got your work taken care of." He said, ripping open his vanilla pudding cup before sticking a spoon in it and bringing it up to his mouth.

Sai stared at Kiba and stated, "You know you're eating semen, right?"

Everyone at the table either spit out their food or choked simultaneously, before turning to stare at Sai, who shrugged and smiled.

"IT'S _VANILLA_ YOU CREEP!" Kiba yelled while everyone laughed. For the remainder of lunch, everyone teased Kiba about his '_vanilla' _pudding and Sakura swore that she had never laughed so hard all her life. She was so glad she and her friends had joined Naruto's little group.

* * *

_**Day 26**_

* * *

When Sakura and TenTen entered the gym, they groaned at seeing all the balls on the floor.

It was their coach's way of playing dodgeball. Two teams and a whole lot of balls. If you were hit, you were out, unless it hit you in the head or you caught it, in which case the other person would be out.

And Sakura and TenTen both knew that Coach only did dodge ball days when he was in a pissed off mood.

"Alright, line up!" Coach said grouchily, coming to stand before his talking students who didn't give him a lick of attention.

"I said, LINE UP!"

Everyone rushed to get in a line, not wanting to face the Coach's wrath.

"Alright! You'll be playing dodgeball today! You know the rules, if you get hit you're out! If someone catches a ball you threw, you're out! Any questions?!" Coach said angrily. No one said a word.

"Alright, then get playing! TenTen, Haruno, you guys are team captains," Coach ordered before stomping towards the bleachers.

Sakura stared at her brunette friend before both sighed, their shoulders slumping. "You pick first," Sakura muttered, going to stand in the front.

TenTen, turned to face her classmates and immediately said, "Neji. You're on my team."

Sakura smirked at TenTen, whose cheeks merely reddened slightly while Sakura snickered and Neji went to go stand by TenTen, his face emotionless.

Sakura scanned the crowd, looking for a familiar face. When she saw his sun-kissed face and impossibly blue eyes, Sakura smiled and said, "Naruto."

Said man grinned from ear-to-ear as he rushed up to her, enveloping her into his large arms. Sakura blushed until he put her down, realizing the whole class had just seen it. TenTen coughed, and Sakura glared at the pinkette who was merely smiling while Neji smirked at them.

TenTen turned to face the class then. She smiled evilly, turning to face Sakura while she called out, "Kiba."

Sakura's eyes widened as Kiba came up to the front, high-fiving Neji and TenTen on his way. If she picked Kiba then that would mean...

Sakura sighed, staring hard at the ground before saying, "Lee."

"OH MY GOSH! SAKURA, I JUST KNEW YOU WOULD PICK ME TO BE ON YOUR TEAM! I AM MOST EXCITED TO BE BATTLING ALONG YOUR SIDE DURING THIS GAME OF-" Lee began to shout prancing over to where Sakura stood, before she interrupted angrily, "Just shut up, Lee and get your scrawny ass over here!"

Sakura was so embarrassed by Lee, she didn't even care that she had cussed in front of a teacher. He didn't seem to care either as he smirked at her blushing face.

TenTen and Sakura hurriedly picked the rest of their teams then and stood on opposite sides of the gym, waiting for Coach to signal the start of the game. When he brought his whistle to his lips, Sakura looked at Naruto and Lee, who nodded back.

Coach blew the whistle.

And then Naruto, Lee and Sakura were sprinting to the middle of the court to push all the balls on their side. But TenTen, Neji and Kiba were doing the same, picking up balls and hurtling them at Sakura's other team mates. Sakura deftly avoided being hit by Kiba, who she glared at as he merely smirked at her.

From then on, it was dodging and throwing and catching.

Lee stayed irritatingly close to Sakura's side, but she was glad he did because he either caught the balls that she couldn't see coming or pushed her out of the way when he couldn't catch them.

When a ball that Lee couldn't catch came at Sakura, he pulled her to his hard chest that she hit with an, 'ooff'. He smiled down at Sakura who merely looked up and blushed at being so close to him, before he twirled her away.

Sakura stumbled as he spun her, and she crashed into a large warm chest and they both fell to the floor.

"I'm sorry," Sakura muttered before she looked up and saw an irritated Naruto. Which was weird, because Naruto was never irritated with her.

The spiky blonde got up and held out his hand for Sakura without looking at the pinkette.

Sakura frowned but let herself be pulled up, about to ask Naruto if he was alright before he stalked off, grabbed a ball and chucked it at the other side.

Sakura felt her brows furrow at his behavior but shrugged it off as him being competitive.

Their teams were down to only a few players each now, and it was close.

Lee caught yet another ball aimed at Sakura and she smiled at him, saying, "Thanks Lee."

"You are very welcome my love! I would catch a thousand balls for you if it meant that you would like me!"Lee said, picking up more balls ad handing some to her.

Sakura rolled her eyes and smiled. "I _already do _like you Lee."

Sakura froze and her eyes widened as she realized with horror what she had just said.

The pinkette turned to face him and his mouth was wide open, and Sakura she swore she could almost see hearts in his eyes like you see in those cartoon cliché stuff.

He came towards her, arms wide open, and Sakura forgot that they were in the middle of a game as she tried to put distance between them.

"No, Lee, wait, listen!" Sakura said, holding out her hands in front of herself to try to stop him from approaching her. "I didn't mean-"

"SAKURA LOVES ME!" Lee cried out in delight, jumping up in the air.

Sakura could hear several of her classmates snicker, and she felt herself turn scarlet.

She glared at Lee then and stopped walking backwards. "Listen Lee, I-"

And then he was squeezing his arms around her and Sakura was blushing, trying to get out of his grip. _Geez, where were all the flying balls _now?

"Lee, would you quit! We're losing the game because of you getting distracted by Sakura!" Sakura heard Naruto call as he threw yet another ball.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. _I am _not _a fucking _distraction, Sakura thought as she unconsciously stopped struggling in Lee's arms and glared at Naruto with her green pools.

"HOW CAN YOU _NOT _BE DISTRACTED BY SAKURA?! SHE'S BEAUTIFUL, AND KIND, AND SMART, AND-"

"_WE GET IT _LEE_! YOU LOVE HER!" _Naruto yelled, turning his usually bright blue-eyed gaze that was now like an ocean-during-a-hurricane-blue on the man.

Lee dropped Sakura from his arms and turned to face Naruto, big bushy brows furrowing together as he yelled angrily, "DON'T YELL AT ME YOU BASTARD!"

Naruto froze, looking shocked and angry as he turned to face Lee. "WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!" Naruto growled out, his heated gaze on Lee.

Sakura swallowed hard. She had never seen Naruto so angry. Sure, Lee was mad too, but it's kind of like when you see a cat get mad at a Doberman. You can't help but hope the cat will be smart and run off and leave the much larger snarling dog alone.

"I SAID YOU WERE A _BASTARD!" _Lee yelled back.

Sakura knew she needed to step in then. Lee wasn't gonna be smart and just drop it and Sakura figured Naruto wasn't just going to miracurously calm down either so she stepped in between them.

"Okay, guys, calm the fu-" Sakura started to say before a ball hit her right in the chest, pushing her back slightly. It didn't hurt, it just surprized the pinkette, and she looked over to the other side of the gym to see Kiba, blowing her a kiss. Sakura rolled her green eyes before turning back to face Naruto and Lee who still looked mad as hell at each other.

Sakura was about to speak again then until Coach interrupted saying, "Sakura! You're out!"

"I know Coach, just hold on I-" Sakura said, her gaze still on the two idiots before the coach interjected angrily.

"Hold on?! You want ME to hold on Haruno?! You're OUT! Go sit on the wall with your other teammates, NOW!" He yelled.

Sakura didn't know what came over her, maybe it was the fact that she kept being interrupted when she was trying to help, or because these two, no make that THREE morons were being stupid, or maybe it was just because of all the _fucking yelling!_

Either way, Sakura turned, her viridian pools hardening and said, "Coach could you just wait like, five minutes?! Or if not, could you _at least_ stop these two idiots from getting in a fight like you're _supposed_ to be doing?!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Sakura wished she could pull them back in. She had always been a hot-head and had always hated being interrupted, but if Sakura was anything, she was a good student, and good students _did not_ talk back to their teachers.

She saw her teachers' eyes narrow before he said coldly, "See me after class, Haruno."

He blew his whistle then and it ended the game and somehow brought Naruto and Lee back down to earth. But Sakura was nothing but _angry _now. She turned to Lee while everyone was heading toward the locker room.

"Lee, I like you as a _friend. _Nothing more. And honestly? I don't really like you at all right now." Sakura said, her green eyes penetrating as she saw Lee's head fall, efore he nodded and made his way towards the locker room.

Sakura turned to Naruto who was staring back at her, his blue pools still frozen with anger.

"Why the hell were you getting so worked up?!" Sakura asked coming to stand in front of him.

"Because you two were being stupid and dancing around while there was a game going on!" Naruto replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"So? Naruto, it was just a _fucking game! _You don't need to get so worked up about it!" Sakura said angrily, her voice rising.

"I WASN'T MAD ABOUT THE STUPID FUCKING GAME!" Naruto yelled, his eyes flashing with anger.

"THEN WHY WERE YOU MAD?!" Sakura yelled back, glaring up at him.

"MAD?! I WASN'T FUCKING MAD! I WAS JEAL-" Naruto began to yell before turning his face away angrily, keeping himself from finishing the rest of that sentence.

Sakura didn't need him to finish. She knew exactly what he was going to say. She knew how he had felt during the game when Lee had flirted with her. Sakura knew that if she just left, right now, and let him be that they could pretend that nothing happened and just bottle it up, save this argument for another day.

And as Sakura stared at his whiskered, sun-kissed face, and blonde bob of a head, and his hurt deep-sea blue pools, Sakura knew that all she wanted to do was comfort him and make his pain go away.

And so without a second thought, she threw her arms around his waist, burying her pink head into his stinky gym shirt.

Then, he wrapped his arms around her, sighing while he rest his chin on top of her pink head, and Sakura knew then that he was no longer mad. That he was ok. And she couldn't help but linger happily on the thought that she had been the one to make him ok again.

* * *

_**Day 32**_

* * *

Things were quiet as Sakura and Hinata sketched in art.

They were focussed hard on their sketches as they blended and traced pencil through their work.

"S-sakura?" Hinata asked tentively.

"Yes, Hinata?" Sakura replied with a smile.

"A-are you sure you d-don't like N-Naruto?"

Sakura felt her pencil lead snap and she was sure the pearl eyed girl had heard it to.

Grabbing a new one from her pencil-pouch, she replied, "I am positive I don't like Naruto." She hoped her friend couldn't hear her heart beat, because it was thumping hard in Sakura's ears.

"I-it's o-ok if you do Sakura, I j-just-," Hinata tried to say before Sakura cut in, "Hinata if I liked Naruto, I would tell you, that way we could talk about cute he is together." Sakura blushed lightly, adding. "But I don't like him, or think he's cute so we have nothing to talk about."

"O-ok. W-well, I was just w-wondering if y-you wanted to come s-spend the night at m-my house so we c-could make his V-valentines Day card t-together." Hinata said, stopping her work to see what Sakura would say.

Sakura bit her lip. "When do you want to spend the night?" The pinkette asked, pretending like she was to absorbed in her drawing so that Hinata wouldn't see what emotions her eyes held.

"I-I don't know, how about t-tomorrow night or S-saturday night?" Hinata suggested sweetly.

"I can't this weekend, my parents and I are going up to my grandmother's for the weekend." Sakura replied, still not glancing up from her work.

"O-oh, t-that's too bad," Hinata stuttered, her head falling.

"Yeah. It really is." Sakura said finally lifting her head to look at the indigo before realizing Hinata was already sketching again.

Sakura looked down but did not draw or study what she had drawn.

She looked down in shame, for lying to her friend's face about her plans for the weekend, and for lying about liking the same guy.

What was wrong with her? Why was she crushing on Hinata's crush? There were plenty of other cute guys out there, why couldn't she just like one of them?

Maybe she didn't like Naruto like that. Maybe she just didn't want to lose him because they had become such good friends so fast. Yeah, that had to be it.

But even as she thought those words, Sakura felt her head lower.

She might be able to lie to Hinata, but she couldn't lie to herself.

She liked Naruto... But she would've given anything not to.

* * *

**I don't know about you guys, but I kept laughing while I was writing about the dodgeball scene. Flying balls, catching balls, handing over balls, balls bouncing off people, balls, Balls, BALLS! I worked on this chapter all night so I hope its good! Sorry if it's confusing with the days, but this is all gonna be in the span of like 7-8 years, so bear with me! Read, review and enjoy! Oh and if you see any errors let me know! Adios! :)**


End file.
